Carrots and Sticks
Be certain to balance out the motivations on both the positive and negative side and remember that although the threat of death will get players moving, the players are not their characters. A player only values their character to the extent that they are invested in said character. The more time the player spends on a character, the more invested they get in said character. The more cool things that the do with said character the more invested they get in the character. The more swag and levels that the character attains, the more invested the player becomes in the character. The more they flesh out the character's back-story and make the character a real person in their mind, the more the player invests in and values the characters. A player is not likely to care too what happens to their brand new no back story elven ranger in the first adventure. But by the time that ranger has attained level thirteen, and has a bow of fiery burst and an ever full quiver, the player is invested in the character even if the poor ranger still has no name. By the same token, if said elven ranger is Illya Silverleaf. If she starts the game with a masterwork long bow that belonged to her, now dead, father... If she took a negative to her constitution and charisma so she could start with said bow... If she retrieved said bow from her father's corpse as she fled from her burning village while the Red Dragon Pyrotaxis burned it to the ground- scarring her face and injuring her lungs in the escape (hence the charisma and constitution reduction)... If she swore to kill Pyrotaxis if it means her own life... If all of this is laid out... then the player is likely to care a great deal more about Illya Silverleaf than she ever would about a nameless elven ranger. The cool starting gear is not unbalancing and the player has paid with a reduction in another area. This trade off will also make the player value the bow even more than normal and may result in interesting things such as the player passing up a magical bow in favor of their dead father's bow. (Remember that players will surprise you) Pyrotaxis will likely not be the center of the campaign, but her presence will be a great motivator to push that player onwards. The Game Master can use rumors of the dragon's lair, rumors of her weakness, promises of anti-dragon magic items, offers of dragon-slaying training, and all sorts of other things to drive the player on. Game masters can add further connection by adding NPCs that player characters develop relationships with in order to make the players care about their characters and the story. Give a character a boyfriend or girlfriend and watch the player drive their character through hell to defend or rescue them- as long as the Game Master has taken the time to properly establish the relationship and doesn't overuse it. Friends can ask for favors, contacts can offer information in exchange for assistance, rivals can inspire by their very presence, long-term villains can inspire the players to heroics that their characters would never do if it weren't for the player's hatred of the villain. These connections are motivations, but they also make the characters real and make the players invest in and believe in the characters. Once the players are invested in the characters, then the Game Master can start throwing sticks that the characters and the players will react appropriately. Threaten the characters with death and players will move them. Threaten favorite NPCs and the players will charge to the rescue. Once the players care about what happens, they will fight through anything to defend what they care about. Until they care about what happens, the Game Master's job is to make them care. Most Game Masters do so with experience and swag. This works, but a good Game Master makes the character creation process and the background development itself a carrot to make the players care about their characters and their world. Keeping a close hand on truly powerful items and instead handing out items that have emotional relevance will matter more to the players if they care about the world. Allowing a player to find the Sword of Kings and discovering that because they are the illegitimate heir to this vanished kingdom, that the magic around the tomb of the high king will let them take the sword, makes the sword way cooler than a simple magic sword- even if the Sword of Kings itself isn't magical just an incredibly well made sword with several reasonable non-magical bonuses. Cool counts for a lot, just make certain that these things matter to you the Game Master and to the story and the players will value them as well. Never underestimate the value of social cool as well. If people recognize the Sword of Kings and start to give the formerly shunned Illegitimate prince respect, the player will likely consider it more valuable than even more powerful magical blades. This is not saying that you should gyp the players and spin them a cute story to make up for it, this is saying that Role-playing IS a story, and as long as you make the story good, that will drive the game play in the right direction and you won't have to resort to bribing the players with higher level treasure than is really appropriate at that stage. Making Players value their Characters early on (carrots) Motivating the Players by threatening the Character's safety (Stick) Dual Motivation, Make the goal include both a threat and a reward (Stick and Carrot) Tying Motivation in to the story so that it flows